By: Steven Curry – Race Reporter
Reynoldsville- After a nearly month and a half delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was finally time to go racing at Hummingbird Speedway on Saturday night. The season opener brought a great turnout of both fans and drivers to the track. The night saw many familiar faces return to the track as well as many new ones mixed in. This season opener began the fourth season with 5-time track champion, Bob Connor, as the flagman. It also began the 56th season of racing at Hummingbird. Feature Winner’s on Opening Night included: Bryce Swauger in the Sunny 106.5 FM Pure Stocks, Jon Lee in the BWP Bats Super Late Models, Bruce Hartzfeld in the Cypress Clock & Gift Shop Street Stocks, Nick Erskine in the Swanson Heavy Duty Truck Repair & Service Semi-Late Models, and Shawn Hadden in the Lockwood Processing Four-Cylinders.
The Sunny 106.5 FM Pure Stocks kicked off the feature racing action with Shawn Hadden and Tim Steis leading the field to the opening green flag of their 15-lap feature race. Hadden jumped out to the lead on the initial start with Bill Mumau and Bryce Swauger following behind. In turns 3 and 4 of the opening lap, both Mumau and Swauger worked their way around Hadden to move into first and second respectively. On lap 2, Swauger looked to the inside of Mumau and completed the pass to take the lead as Josh Fields worked his way around Hadden for third. Swauger began to build his lead over Mumau and Fields as the laps started to tick away. On lap 6, Dennis Harrison Jr. worked his way around Fields to move into third. One lap later, on lap 7, the caution flag came out for the first time because of a mechanical failure on Fields’ car causing it to come to a stop in the infield on the frontstretch. Cautions plagued the middle stages of the race as Swauger, Mumau, and Harrison Jr. maintained their top 3 positions. On a lap 9 restart, Swauger pulled out to the lead once again over Mumau, Harrison Jr., and the rest of the field. On lap 11, Mumau spun out in turns 3 and 4 bringing out another caution flag and moving Harrison Jr. to second and Hadden to third. After a couple more caution flags, the race saw its final restart on lap 12. On the final restart of the race, Swauger jumped out to the lead once again with Hadden in second and Tim Steis in third. Swauger extended his lead in the final 3 laps enroute to picking up the win. In a last lap pass, Casey Wolfe took the third position from Steis. Swauger was followed by: 2) Shawn Hadden 3) Casey Wolfe 4) Tim Steis 5) Wayne Garvey 6) Dennis Harrison Jr. 7) Tim Powell 8) Bill Mumau 9) Justin Watt 10) Andy Frey 11) Josh Fields. Swauger and Hadden won the heat races.
Next to the track were the BWP Bats Super Late Models with newcomer Damian Bidwell and Michael Lake leading a stout field of cars to the green flag for their 25-lap feature event. After a quick lap 1 caution flag, the race saw its first extended green flag run. On the restart, Bidwell and Lake swapped the lead a couple of times but ultimately it was Bidwell that led lap 1 with Lake and Kenny Schaffer following behind. On lap 2, Lake nearly spun out in turns 1 and 2 which allowed Schaffer to get by for second and Wyatt Scott to get by for third. A caution for a spin in turn 4 setup another restart. One lap got completed after the restart before a spin in turn 2 brought out the caution again on lap 4 with Bidwell, Scott, and Lake the top 3. On the ensuing lap 5 restart, Bidwell jumped out to the lead with Scott and Lake in second and third respectively. Bidwell built a small lead on Scott and the rest of the field. On lap 8, Lake used the momentum on the high side to work his way around Scott to move into the second position. Bidwell went high in turns 1 and 2 on the following lap, allowing both Lake and Scott to close in making it a three-car battle for the lead. Scott went to the inside of Bidwell in turns 3 and 4 and passed him to take the lead on lap 9. A couple more caution flags came out, preventing the race from reaching lap 10. One of the cautions involved Lake which forced him to retire for the evening. On the following restart, it was Scott in the lead followed by Schaffer and Bidwell. On lap 11, Bidwell used the inside line to his advantage to work past Schaffer to move into second behind Scott. A caution for a stopped car on the frontstretch setup yet another restart. Jon Lee took advantage of the lap 12 restart and got passed both Bidwell and Schaffer to move into the second position behind Scott. Lee began to chip away at Scott’s lead as the race crossed its halfway mark. Scott continued to lead as Lee closed in until lap 20 when Scott cut down a tire, bringing out the caution flag and forcing him to retire from the race. Lee checked out on the field on the final restart of the race and led the remaining 5 laps on his way to taking the checkered flag. Lee was followed by: 2) Damian Bidwell 3) Kenny Schaffer 4) Scott Alvetro 5) Jason Dobson 6) Kyle Scott 7) Anthony Marotto 8) Wyatt Scott 9) Cody Lucas 10) Steven Scaife 11) Gary Lyle 12) Larry Hollenbaugh 13) Orvis Newcome lll 14) Chris Farrell 15) Joe Petyak 16) Paul Kot. DQ: Michael Lake. Kot, Bidwell, and Lake won the heat races.
The Cypress Clock & Gift Shop Street Stocks were next to the track with Allen Lamb and Trevor McCann leading the field to the opening green flag for their 20-lap feature race. On the start, Brandon Connor made it three-wide into turns 1 and 2 with Lamb and McCann and passed both of them on the low side as they worked off of turn 2. Connor led the opening lap followed by McCann and Lamb in second and third respectively. On lap 3, Jim Bloom used the low line to his advantage to work past Lamb for the third position. On lap 4, a mechanical issue for McCann brought out the caution flag and forced him depart from the race. That moved Bloom and Lamb to second and third for the restart. On the restart, Connor jumped out to the lead as Bruce Hartzfeld got around both Bloom and Lamb to move into the second position. A number of caution flags kept the race stalled at lap 6 for awhile. After all of the caution flags, the race saw its final restart on lap 7 with Connor the race leader and Hartzfeld and Bloom following behind. Bloom had to retire from the race on lap 9 after his car picked up a bad vibration. That moved Joe Stajnrajh into the third spot behind the two leaders. Hartzfeld peaked his nose to the inside of Connor for the lead over the next several laps but to no avail as Connor held on to the top spot. Finally, he pulled even with Connor as they came off of turn 2 on lap 15. Hartzfeld completed the pass on the backstretch to take the lead on lap 16. Connor went to the high side in the final laps in hopes of getting enough momentum to get back passed Hartzfeld but it did not work as Hartzfeld held on to pick up the victory. Hartzfeld was followed by: 2) Brandon Connor 3) Joe Stajnrajh 4) Matt Sampson 5) Curtis Bish 6) Sonny Baker 7) Jim Bloom 8) Allen Lamb 9) Cody Wolfe 10) Pernell Beimel 11) Trevor McCann. DNS: Mike Dempsey, Dustin Challingsworth. Hartzfeld and Bloom won the heat races.
The Swanson Heavy Duty Truck Repair & Service were next to the track with Doug Surra and Caleb Whiteford leading the field to the green flag for their 20-lap feature event. Surra jumped out to the early lead over Whiteford and Eddie Connor. Surra continued to lead for the first couple of laps until a caution for a spin turn 4 setup the first restart of the race. On the restart, Connor looked to the inside of Whiteford and completed the pass to move into second behind Surra. On lap 4, Nick Erskine went to the inside of Whiteford to take the third spot. The caution came out soon after that for a terrible crash involving Joey Malobicky and others. Malobicky’s car flipped over once off of the nose of one of the other cars involved in the accident and landed on all four tires. Thankfully, everyone involved in the crash walked away uninjured. On the restart following the crash, Erskine worked his way around Surra to take the lead on lap 5 just before another caution came out. A couple of more caution flags came out as the race neared its halfway mark with Erskine, Surra, and Connor the top 3. One more caution would come out before the race saw its final restart. On the final restart on lap 11, Bob McMillen worked to the inside of Connor to take the third spot behind Erskine and Surra. Erskine continued to extend his lead over the field as the laps continued to click away. He would go unchallenged the rest of the way enroute to chalking up win #1 of the 2020 season. Erskine was followed by: 2) Doug Surra 3) Bob McMillen 4) Eddie Connor 5) Bernie Whiteford Jr. 6) Kyle Shannon 7) Steve Brugmann 8) Fuzzy Fields 9) Jack Sarnousky 10) Joe Loffredo 11) Caleb Whiteford 12) Joey Malobicky Jr. 13) Jim Challingsworth. DNS: Deegen Watt. DQ: Rich Wicker. Connor and Surra won the heat races.
The Lockwood Processing Four Cylinders capped off the night of racing action with Shawn Hadden and Joe Anthony leading the field to the opening green flag for their 12-lap feature race. Hadden jumped out to the lead on the start with Anthony in second and Travis Timko in third. On lap 2, Timko worked his way around Anthony to take the second position behind Hadden. Hadden pulled out to a pretty big lead as the laps clicked away and as the race reached its halfway point. On lap 8, Blake Joiner worked his way around Anthony to take the third spot behind Hadden and Timko. Then, on lap 10, Joiner worked his way around Timko to take the second spot as he set his sights on Hadden for the lead. Joiner cut the lead that Hadden had by quite a bit but with only a couple of laps left he ran out of time as Hadden held on to pick up the win. Hadden was followed by: 2) Blake Joiner 3) Travis Timko 4) Joe Anthony 5) David Smail 6) Cody Cassler 7) Ben Lehane 8) Bill Fuchs 9) Jay Swager Jr. 10) Garrett McKinney 11) Joe Beningo 12) Wayne Truitt 13) Ricky Nelson 14) Justin Finland 15) Jim Boyer. DNS: Timothy Maines, Joe Anthony Jr.. Hadden and Timko won the heat races.
Speedway Notes: 73 cars packed the pits for the 2020 Season Opener. Next Saturday will feature a Regular 5-Division Program with Super Lates, Street/Pro Stocks, Semi Lates, Pure Stocks, and Four Cylinders on the card. Also, the Young Guns Jr Sprints will be joining us for the first time this year. Gates open at 4:00 with racing beginning at 7:00. For more information call the track office at (814) 653-8400 or visit the tracks’ website at www.hummingbirdspeedway.com. You can also follow the track on Facebook and Twitter.
Results:
Sunny 106.5 FM Pure Stocks
1st) #28 Bryce Swauger
2nd) #3H Shawn Hadden
3rd) #6/2P Casey Wolfe
4th) #34 Tim Steis
5th) #72G Wayne Garvey
6th) #42H Dennis Harrison Jr.
7th) #3 Tim Powell
8th) #871 Bill Mumau DNF
9th) #00 Justin Watt DNF
10th) #55X Andy Frey DNF
11th) #88 Josh Fields DNF
BWP Bats Super Late Models
1st) #5L Jon Lee
2nd) #1/2PT Damian Bidwell
3rd) #13X Kenny Schaffer
4th) #64 Scott Alvetro
5th) #75 Jason Dobson
6th) #3 Kyle Scott
7th) #15 Anthony Marotto
8th) #x3 Wyatt Scott DNF
9th) #67 Cody Lucas DNF
10th) #7S Steven Scaife DNF
11th) #10 Gary Lyle DNF
12th) #1H Larry Hollenbaugh DNF
13th) #66N Orvis Newcome lll DNF
14th) #53 Chris Farrell DNF
15th) #44 Joe Petyak DNF
16th) #36 Paul Kot DNF
17th) #27 Michael Lake DQ
Cypress Clock & Gift Shop Street/Pro Stocks
1st) #101 Bruce Hartzfeld
2nd) #55 Brandon Connor
3rd) #04 Joe Stajnrajh
4th) #17S Matt Sampson
5th) #00 Curtis Bish Jr.
6th) #94B Sonny Baker
7th) #37A Jim Bloom DNF
8th) #104 Allen Lamb DNF
9th) #147 Cody Wolfe DNF
10th) #43 Pernell Beimel DNF
11th) #12M Trevor McCann DNF
12th) #95 Mike Dempsey DNS
13th) #46 Dustin Challingsworth DNS
Swanson Heavy Duty Truck Repair & Service Semi Late Models
1st) #5X Nick Erskine
2nd) #3xAA Doug Surra
3rd) #50 Bob McMillen
4th) #27C Eddie Connor
5th) #33JR Bernie Whiteford Jr.
6th) #11 Kyle Shannon
7th) #95 Steve Brugmann
8th) #28 Fuzzy Fields DNF
9th) #16 Jack Sarnousky DNF
10th) #9J Joe Loffredo DNF
11th) #1W Caleb Whiteford DNF
12th) #34 Joey Malobicky Jr. DNF
13th) #44 Jim Challingsworth DNF
14th) #17 Deegen Watt DNS
15th) #2T Rich Wicker DQ
Lockwood Processing Four Cylinders
1st) #3H Shawn Hadden
2nd) #569 Blake Joiner
3rd) #910 Travis Timko
4th) #55 Joe Anthony
5th) #81S David Smail
6th) #14 Cody Cassler
7th) #1 Ben Lehane
8th) #10 Bill Fuchs
9th) #13J Jay Swager Jr.
10th) #21G Garrett McKinney
11th) #21 Joe Beningo
12th) #54 Wayne Truitt
13th) #4N Ricky Nelson DNF
14th) #56 Justin Finland
15th) #11 Jim Boyer DNF
16th) #39 Timothy Maines DNS
17th) #55JR Joe Anthony Jr. DNS